Consortium for Development Policy Research (CDPR) hosted its eleventh Lahore Policy Exchange talk on “Will Load-shedding End in Pakistan?” Load-shedding has become a feature of life in Pakistan that just won’t go away. The gap between energy demand and supply continues to grow as incomes rise and more people consume electricity. Without a solution to the problem, businesses and livelihoods will continue to be held back by regular blackouts, in turn crippling Pakistan’s economic growth. Consecutive governments have attempted to solve the problem, but to little avail. The current administration’s approach has focused on expanding the power supply by increasing solar, coal, and hydroelectric generation with the help of foreign investment, particularly from China. But will its efforts actually end the energy crisis? What is being done to curb the power theft, distribution losses, and inefficient usage that keep the lights out regardless of supply? What more needs to be done? These questions were discussed at the event by the following speakers: Rashid Aziz (former senior energy specialist at the World Bank), Shahzad Saleem (Chairman at Nishat Chunian Group) and Asad Rehman Gillani (Secretary of Energy Punjab). Naved Hamid, Professor at the Lahore School of Economics and former official at the Asian Development Bank, moderated the discussion. Policy exchange dialogue took place at the end, when the question and answer session took place amongst the audience and the presenters.

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